Monthly Archives: July 2015

After a little while searching, Matthew, my dad and I found a small, tucked-away house that had been converted into an insect museum. My overflowing excitement at the trip could barely be contained and I was not disappointed.

The museum contains the life’s work of an elderly couple who still own and possibly live in their converted home and specialised in mosquitos. The collection is phenomenal, filled with beautiful insects, rocks, fossils, petrified wood in beautiful forms and shells. The walk around, which consisted of two levels, was full of new delights and curiosity whith each step, especially for myself. Some species displayed are now extinct, and the glass cases even include fossilised dinosaur eggs and shells bigger than a person’s head.

For the two Sundays we’ve been here, my family and I went to the Sunday Walking market, where a part of the city is sectioned off from vehicles for a large market selling food, clothes, craft items and accessories of every kind, many handmade.

We went from around 4 to 6 both times and enjoyed ourselves throughly, though it’s a good idea to keep an eyes on all members of your party as the market is busy and generally quite full, which makes for a pleasant buzzing atmosphere that is easy to get lost in.

Prices are not always labelled and as always, haggling is often put into practice as the market is geared primarily towards tourists, and while most of the food sold is Thai, there is always a Western alternative to be found. The waffles and fried chicken are particularly good.

Taxis in Chiang Mai are mostly tuk-tuks or red vans that look a little like small, old-fashioned fire engines. They too are expecting tourists and charge heavily, so make sure you have time to walk home before dark if you’d rather not pay 7 dollars, compared to the 3 dollars charged in Bangkok. However, for the individual, taxis can be considered cheap as they charge 50 baht per person.